The Outer Colors
The Outer Colors (Los Colores Exteriores is its original, spanish title) is a novel-style fan fiction written by NanKnight. It is categorized on deviant art as a Suspense & Mistery tale, meanwhile Fanfiction.net describes it as a Adventure/Suspense story. Its first three chapters were published on the author's deviant art account on december 24 of 2011. Actually, it has published 33 complete chapters (plus 6 one-shot fics located in the same time-line) making a total of aproximately 140,000 words and is written only in spanish. __INDEX__ Plot Summary The central argument of The Outer Colors, revolves around the relationship between Equestria and the world where it is located and The World Far Beyond, a planet located in a different plane of existence, but that is interconnected with the Pony World through apertures or portals (what the lizerines call "cracks in the shell of the world"). Besides the Mane6, the fic is starred by the mysterious figure of a pony called Burning Spades, whose knowledge about The World Far Beyond and its inhabitants make him a constant target of suspicion. As the plot progresses in the two books published by now and in a variety of one-shot fics, Spades's character evolves, while he gets related in different ways with other ponies. The fic deals mainly with the subject of the search for identity, self-acceptance and learning to trust others, without neglecting the essential themes of friendship, companionship and in some later chapters, love. A World Far Beyond It is the first book in the series and resolves around a mysterious stranger pony and his quest of a mysterious book that, according to the same pony, he wrote. The Mane6 become involved in the search for the book and find out so many conspiracies and problems that might endanger Equestria and the whole world. Burning Spades' Tragic Life The second book in the series. Its plot centers on explaining the origins and childhood of the mysterious Burning Spades from the point of view of a mysterious sorceress pony that arrives to Ponyville on a quiet autumn morning. The King of Fanatics It's a direct sequel to "A World Far Beyond" and resolves around the arrival of a mysterious horde of hostile ponies to the surroundings of Ponyville. Their intentions are unknown at the begining, but they claim to serve a monstruous alicron tyrant only known as Lord Azorakt. The Brony Musical Apparently, a separate storyline from the rest. It tells the events of a young brony nicknamed "Mails". He along with his friends, will join forces to gather all the bronys from his community in order to show the world the Magic of Friendship. Structure The fanfic is mainly divided in "books". Each book is then divided into "acts", that are formed by chapters. Often, three chapters form an act and every book is formed by three acts. Actually, the first, second and third books are already published. The forth book is a work in progress, even though it apparently narrates a completely independent story. Also, there are some one-shot fics located in the same time-line. The author call them "apocryphal books" because there no need to read them to understand the main plot, and, in words of the author himself "this books must not be took 100% seriously". The next scheme shows the already published chapters, acts and books, including the upcoming acts oficially anounced by the author: Original Characters Even though the story features many of the series main cast, including the Mane 6, Spike, Gummy, Princess Celestia, The Cutie Mark Crusaders and the Mayor, some original characters make an important rol in the development of later chapters. This are listed below: Burning Spades Burning Spades (Also called Burns, Spades or BS) is an original character who makes his first appearance in the fanfic The Outer Colors: A World Far Beyond. He is described as a quiet, mysterious and introverted pony who constantly speaks with sarcasm and aggressive phrases. On the first chapters of the fanfic it is not clearly stated his role on the story: he is constantly viewed as a misunderstood ally or a hidden foe, sometimes joining the Mane 6 in their role as protagonists. History and Motivation Very little is known about the past of Spades before appearing in the first chapter of A World Far Beyond. According to Burning himself, he worked as a librarian in Ponyville before the arrival of Twilight Sparkle. His research on what he calls "the outer colors" has led him to travel throughout Equestria and to work as the assistant of the Great Librarian of Canterlot's Royal Collection. His primary motivation in the story, is to retrieve a book that was accidentally delivered to Spike, which leads him to break into Fluttershy's house during a sleepover where the Mane 6 were gathered. Role on the story It is actually unknown Burning Spades' real purpose on Ponyville. Even though he joined "the friendship side" at the end of A World Far Beyond there are a bunch of mysteries around his past and the origin of his research about "the outer colors". Planned as some kind of anti-hero, Burning is used by the author as a resource of plot twists making him look guilty of betrayal and conspiracy against the story protagonists, who keep trying to look at him like an ally due the pony's default friendly mood. Speculation It is speculated by some followers of the fanfic, that Spades is actually a human that somehow made his way into Equestria taking the shape of a pony. It could explain his vast knowledge about the human world. In order to solve this issues, NanKnight wrote a story about Burning's origins. There's also speculated, that the author plans some kind of shipping relationship between Burns and a character of the main cast, being the principal candidates Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. In other authors' works As the popularity of the fiction novel and its sequels has grown, the character of Burning Spades has been taken up by other authors for their stories. Here is a review of the most remarkable in order of publication: 'The Outer Colors: The Color of Everything' by 2nekos Developed as a "fanfic of fanfic" and written by the writer and illustrator 2nekos, this story is an alternative sequel to what might have happened after "A World Far Beyond". Spades appears here still working as a blacksmith in Ponyville, and is presented as a skilled warrior, chivalrous, cunning, and friendly with the other ponies. En DeviantArt 'Equestria Entretainment's The Soup' by Chico-Escudo Fanfic of parodies of other fics that parodies the U.S. program called "The Soup". In a chapter of this story, Burning Spades appears as a special guest of the presenter and interacts with the characters of other important My Little Pony fanfics in Spanish. Here, his personality is proud, verging a little on the neurotic. On FanFiction.net 'Chaos and Order' by Ekelion Fanfic located on the same timeline of "The Outer Colors" and described after the events of "Burning Spades' Tragic Life", tells a new adventure of the Mane6 in a world changed by Equestria's diplomacy with other nations. Spades is serious and very rightful in this story. On FanFiction.net 'Color of Weird Spectrum' by Wandering Wing Fanfic crossover located on an alternate timeline where the stories of NanKnight (The Outer Colors) and Wandering Wing (Lamp for Another Sun) mix together. Burning Spades appears here as a fierce and restless warrior driven by anger facing a powerfull and dreadful enemy who killed his most beloved pony. On FanFiction.net 'B W W: Brony World War' by Seren Avro Tsukino Fanfic crossover that puts together many OC Ponys from various authors of Fanfiction's spanish-speaking community. On this fic, Burning Spades plays the role of a technical expert. He is the only one from the pony side who knows about the humans and their armies that are invading Equestria. He is a pony researcher here and behaves fascinated by the humans and their technology. On FanFiction.net The Lizerines A strange race of lizard-like creatures. They are described as huge, biped reptilians. This creatures used to have deal with the ponis of Equestria long ago, but in the actual days, they are considered a myth by most ponies. Scriptlore He is an old and wise unicorn who was promoted to Great Librarian of Canterlot's Royal Collection. He has his own group of royal guards to his orders and Burning Spades is his assistant. Leadhawk He is a big and strong pegasus, leader of the Library Tower guard. In A World Far Beyond he faces Burning Spades in a fight. There is later revealed, in Burning Spades' Tragic Life, that he was friend of Burning when both were little colts. The Sorcerer An stranger young unicorn who appeared in Ponyville at the first chapter of Burning Spades' Tragic Life. None about her is known, but she met Burning Spades long time ago and, in words of herself, she knows him (Spades) better than anypony in the whole world. She introduces herself as one of the Princess Celestia's Court wizards and wears a shiny yellow cape and a golden insignia. Speculation It is believed by some followers of the fic, that she is, actually, Starshine, one of Burning Spades' childhood friends due the physical similarities between the two unicorns. Some even think there is, or was a shipping relationship between Spades and her. Category:Fan fiction